Glory |A. Potter|

Five

It was one of the most awkward moments in Scorpius's life. He was sitting in between Jane and Albus in a corner of the library, bookshelves all around them. Hardly anyone passed by and when they did, they didn't stay, they only walked on as they noticed the table was occupied. There was silence, and it wasn't just because Jane and Albus wanted to obey to the library's rule that it should be quiet.

All of them had a book in front of them. They were all studying, it seemed, but Scorpius could hardly focus. They hadn't even talked to each other when they had gotten in the library, more than an hour ago, and the silence was driving him insane. It didn't help he didn't like the library and was in there only for Jane's comfort in the first place. The more hour passed, it seemed he wasn't the only one affected by the quiet of the room.

He had lost track of times he had noticed Jane look up, first at him and then at Albus, as if surprised they were both with her. Plenty of times, he had thought she would speak up but every time he thought there finally would be some kind of conversation between them—or even with him, at this point, he was too desperate to discriminate—she stayed quiet and looked away. Albus didn't act in a much different manner. He had caught him too looking up at him and then across the table at Jane, almost impatient for their time in the library to end so he could leave.

Before they had gotten in the library, Scorpius had forced Albus to promise him he would try to make some sort of conversation with Jane. However, there had been no sign of interaction from the moment they had taken their seats around the table. Scorpius couldn't stand the quiet for much longer.

"I need to take some air," he told them with a small sigh as he stood up. Albus seemed suspicious as he looked up at him but Jane on the other hand seemed concerned, almost worried.

"Is there a problem? Do you want us to come with you?"

"There'll be no need for that," Scorpius assured her, "I'll be back in a while."

He shot a warning look at Albus as he left and a small smile at Jane. She followed him with her eyes until he disappeared behind a shelf and then turned back to her book. Albus mirrored her moves, turned his attention to his own book. He attempted to study, but his gaze passed over the words without him registering their meaning. He attempted to start over yet he had the same issue as before. After trying thrice and still not managing to understand a word of what the passage was attempting to teach him, Albus gave up and looked up at her.

Jane was dressed in an oversized black shirt, the way she usually got dressed when she didn't have to wear a school uniform. It was her usual attire, a pair of black leggings with an oversized shirt and black combat boots. Her long hair was styled in curls as it always was, half of it pulled up into a bun in the back of her head, a pair of huge circular earrings placed on her ears. She had put on make-up today as well and Albus for some reason couldn't help but think the only instances someone would manage to see her make-up free would be when she was training for Quidditch or when she was in the common room at night, dressed in her pyjamas. Despite her love for make-up, she really didn't seem to like dressing up.

Albus dragged his eyes away from her and to the book in front of her as he cleared his throat. "What are you studying about?"

Jane looked up, dark eyes slightly wider than usual as she looked over at him, bronze lips parted. She seemed surprised he had actually talked to her. Albus didn't blame her. He was surprised as well. He forced himself to not look away though, not backing down now. He had asked her a question. He was certainly not going to be a coward and look away now. After all, he had promised Scorpius and Merlin knew his dear friend liked to complain when things didn't go the way he had calculated.

Once Jane realised he was indeed interested—or rather, not interested, but desperate enough to ask her something to break the silence—her expression softened just slightly. She glanced at the book in front of her and then looked up once more, the corner of her mouth crinkling in a friendly manner although her lips remained almost flat.